Improvement in loom



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JOHN C. WOOD, OF CONSHOHOCKEN, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 85,981, dated Janna/ry 19, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN LOOM.

The Schedule referred to in these Letten Patent and making part of the lame.

To all whom it may conce/rn:

Be it known that I, JOHN G.WOOD, of Conshohocken, in the county of Montgolnery,and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Looms, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object' of my invention is to secure a simple and effective method of varying the character of the fabric to be woven, at the will of the operator; to which end,

My improvement consists in a novel method of suspending the heddles from movableaXially-turning rollers, substantially in the manner hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, which show so much of a power-loom, to which my improvement is applied, as is necessary to illustrate my invention- Figure 1 represents a plan or top view.

Figure 2, a section at the line x :c of fig. 1.

Figure 3, a diagram illustrating the method of suspending the heddles from the rollers.

My invention can readily be applied to looms of ordinary construction. I therefore deem it unnecessary to do more than to refer to those parts not forming part of the subject-matter herein claimed.

' The mechanism is mounted in a frame, A.

The cam-shaft B is rotated continuously in one direction by any proper means.

In this instance it is intended to work four sets of heddles only, but the number might be increased or diminished.

. The cams C C', which work the heddles, are mounted on collars, I), which slide freely lengthwise of the shaft, but are provided with feathers to cause them to turn with it.

The lateral movements of these cams are controlled by adjustable swivels, c, (on studs, E,fixed on theframe,) which work in a switch-cam groove, c', on the collars ot' the cams.

The treadles F F F2 Fa are pivoted at the back of the loom. Their front ends play in a verticallyslotted or grated guide-board, G, which I call a treadle-grate.

These treadles are suspended, by straps h, from the heddles H ISI1 H2 H3, which are in like manner suspended from rollers I I by straps.

Each of these heddles is attached to both rollers.

The front heddle H is suspended by straps, t' il, passing over the rollers in front.

The rear heddle H3 is similarly suspended by straps, 'i6 i7, passing over the back of the rollers.

The heddle Hl is suspended from the lower roller I by a strap, i2, in rear, and from the upper one, I, by a strap, i3, in front.

The heddle H2, on the contrary, is suspended from the lower roller by a strap, i, in front, and from the upper roller by a strap, i", in rear.

Fig. 3 shows this arrangement very clearly, the mode of attachment of each heddle being separately shown. Figs. l and 2 show the mode of attachment also.

The rollers turn in open bearings in brackets k, so arranged that either roller can be set higher or-lower, as required.

The length of the suspension-straps is so regulated that raising or lowering the rollers tightens or slackens them, so as to vary the fabric, as hereinafter described.

My invention is particularly adapted to the manufacture of balmoral skirts, as it enables me to change the fabric, and thus increase the range of ornamentation of which it is susceptible.

The operation of the loom is as follows:

In figs. 1 and 2, the loom is shown as Weaving twilled fabrics with four heddles, three threads being on one side of the fabric and one on the other.

There are four sets of bearings for the rollers, arranged one above the other, as shown in fig. 2.

For weaving twilled fabrics, the top roller is arranged in the upper bearings, while the lower one is in the next to the lowest bearings.

The eiiect of this arrangement is to leave all the straps in action.

The straps of the upper roller are so adjusted as to leave the heddles in the position shown in fig. 2, three up and one down, the front heddle (the one down) being depressed by the cam C'. As soon as the pick of weft is thrown in, the cam C rises, and the cam O acts on the treadle F2. This draws down the third heddle H2 from the front by the'positive motion of the cam, and the other three heddles are drawn up by the rotation of the rollers. Each heddle in succession is depressed by the action of the cams on the heddles, as is well understood by weavers, the cams being shifted on the shaft by the switch.

To change the loom to weaving plain fabrics, the lower roller is placed in the lowest bearings, the effect of which is to slacken the straps and throw the lower roller out of action. As the straps of the two front and the two rear heddles are on opposite sides of the rollers, the action of the cams raises or lowers the first and second, or third and fourth heddles, alternately. The cam only depresses one heddle at a time positively. In order to insure the descent of the corresponding treadle, I employ springs, M, which depress the heddles at the proper time.

It will thus be seen that I am enabled to weave plain or twilled goods in the same loom, merely by shitting the rollers, whereby I dispense with much complex mechanism heretofore employed for attaining this result.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, substantially as set forth, of the heddles and their straps, with the adjustable rollers, for changing the character of the fabric by merely shifting the position of the rollers, as specified.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JOHN C. WOOD.

Witnesses JOHN M. GUMMEY, CHAs. B. COLLIER. 

